Former councillor and 2018 mayoral candidate Silas White is now working with the Town of Gibsons as a consultant.
As a former elected official, White was required to disclose under the Community Charter that he is not “using information that was obtained during the official’s time in office, which is not available to the general public, to gain or further a direct or indirect pecuniary interest.”
The disclosure letter from White, dated March 5, says he has been contracted by the Town, through the Burnaby-based firm Impact Resolutions, to assist with: homelessness remediation and engagement; Indigenous and intergovernmental relations; overdose crisis community support network; governance and policy development; and community economic development.
As a councillor, White was active on many of those same issues, and was among the attendees, along with former mayor Wayne Rowe, at the March 8 announcement about converting the former RCMP site on School Road to supportive housing in partnership with the federal government and BC Housing.
Speaking about the contract at the March 19 council meeting, Mayor Bill Beamish said bringing White on as a consultant helped keep “continuity” on some of those issues.
“The contract scope was very limited and the contract was capped at a maximum of $5,000 so that it would not be seen as a long-term engagement. It was just to allow us to focus and not lose momentum with ongoing projects in those areas.”
White, who has a master’s degree in public administration, is now a “governance and public policy specialist” with Impact Resolutions.
The firm employs several consultants who work internationally.
Town’s overall budget for “professional services,” which includes hiring consultants, engineering firms, and experts other than lawyers, is about $142,000 for 2019.
Any contracts that come in at over $25,000 in a given fiscal year have to be reported in the Town’s Statement of Financial Information, the same report that outlines council pay and the salaries of top staff.
